An Australian hedge fund that lost big on a Goldman Sachs (GS) collateralized debt obligation that Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) memorably called "one shitty deal" has sued Goldman for $1 billion. The fund alleges that Goldman misrepresented who picked the underlying securities in the Timberwolf CDO, and that the true picker's interest was in having the CDO fail -- a similar claim to that made in the Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit over Goldman's Abacus CDO. In this deal, however, Paulson & Co. wasn't the bearish investor. Goldman itself allegedly set the CDO up to fail in order to offload its own risk. Unsurprisingly, Goldman denies any wrongdoing.

Yet another Goldman CDO, Hudson Mezzanine, which was also discussed at the congressional hearings, is now reported to be the subject of a second SEC probe. It's too early to tell if charges will be filed, but the mere fact of the probe isn't good news for Goldman. It's already dealing with other investigations and suits, and surely won't appreciate having to devote more resources to its legal and reputational defense.

U-Haul Tried to Fix Prices

U-Haul International just settled with the Federal Trade Commission over the commission's claims that U-Haul tried to fix prices with the Avis Budget Group. Apparently, U-Haul never succeeded in fixing prices, which is perhaps why the settlement doesn't involve any money. Instead, U-Haul has agreed to obey the law and submit itself to certain supervision for the next 20 years. I'm not sure that rises to the level of a slap on the wrist -- it looks like more of a gentle pat.